>> this is "bbc world news." funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers use their work hard to know your business, offering specialized solutions and capital to help you meet your growth objectives. we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now, bbc world news. >> a new leader for a new era.

china's next president takes center stage. xi jinping wil preside over a fifth of the world's population. >> friends of the media, china at needs to know more about the world, and the world needs to understand better about china. >> we talk to china's richest man who rose from poverty to the top of the billionaire's elite table. now he is warning about inequality. >> this wealth that has become a huge problem. >> today's other headlines.

violence escalated in gaza after hamas rockets killed israelis across the border. egypt warns the situation could escalate out of control. hello and welcome to gmt. it is 7:00 in the morning in new york and 8:00 in the evening here in beijing, where xi jinping has finally been confirmed as the country's next president. he will face a test like no other chinese leader before, having to preside over a party with major changes unleashed by market reforms. he says the party has to be more in touch with the people. >> after a mysterious, a secretive process, china has chosen its new leaders.

the new party general secretary as expected, xi jinping. in front of the invited journalists, he wasted no time warning of the challenges ahead. >> the problems among our party members of corruption, taking bribes, being out of touch with the people, undue emphasis upon bureaucracy. >> little is known about xi jinping's preferred solutions to those challenges. seemingly different from his predecessors. he is also known to have close ties to the hardline military chief. chinese people have had no say

in choosing their leaders begging the party has done that for them. few people will expect major changes. outsiders will be trying to read between the lines about the man now in charge of the world's second-biggest economy. they include the second highest rank leader. number 6 in the lineup is already an architect of economic reform and offers the hope of more. then there is number 3 and number 5, both said to be conservative hard liners. i jinping's wife is a singer who is at least as famous as he is. only by a matter of degree, conformity and caution are keys to the climb up in communist

party politics. >> china's new leaders said today he wanted to give the 1.3 billion people in this country better jobs and better living standards. tschida has already seen a remarkable economic transformation with hundreds of millions lifted out of poverty. there are now real fears that the economic miracle may not be sustainable. i have been speaking to china's richest man who grew up in poverty. he told me that the gap between the rich and the port has become a huge problem and says the new leadership has to tackle it. >> in a country where biggin brash is the order of the day, he offers a reminder of a gentler times.

it is now home to a different kind of employer. this is the headquarters. note the banner attributing to the party congress. we got a glimpse of how that works. he is worth up to $20 billion and is courted by the parti. this delegation is from a faraway province. they note too many are still missing out on china's economic miracle. >> lots of people here are still poor. this gap has become a huge problem and it has triggered social and satisfaction. >> he grew up in poverty, a rags to riches story. his first business was selling ice lollies from a bike 25 years

ago. he says he lives on $20 a day. >> i spend less than my workers. i believe in a simple life. i give money to charity. the rich should earn respect. >> it turns out, the frugality gene does not run in the family. the lamborghini outside belongs to his daughter. the company has more than 60 factories outside the country. as successful as he is, his business empire epitomizes china's model of economic growth and then there will always be someone or somewhere trying to compete on cost. for now, there is cause for china to get creative. he made his fortune in building.

this is his latest venture. it is a bet on china's future. >> there will not be any money in construction in china in 30 years' time. there is great potential here. >> he is starting from scratch. she set up her design label after training in london. the government is less adept when it comes to nurturing creative talent like hers. >> it takes time for them to understand and find the people who really work on this part because this country is too weak. sometimes it is easy to lose control or focus. >> it is possible that it represents a new generation and a new meaning to the "made in

china" brand. >> and author and specialist on china is with me now and has been watching the congress day by day. what did you make of the speech by the new president? >> he came out as a human being when he spoke about this, compared to his predecessor hu jintao who always seem to be reading a report. several chinese academics were impressed by his style. he went through his usual litany but then he got down to what he was talking about a few minutes ago which was acknowledging the problems that they face. >> were you surprised he talked about the party being out of touch with the people? >> a lot of this is coming out with senior party sources.

they have a one-party system which does not allow any kind of organized opposition. there is no open party discussion. policy is made behind closed doors. >> you say we have known about some of these problems. there was nothing in that speech about what xi jinping might do about it. >> that is right. they know the problems. the report was written to the leadership two years ago, a laundry list of the things that needed to be done but they are not being addressed. they know the problems. the obstacles and reside in the political system. that means the big state enterprises are doing very nice in the present system. >> we can see these buildings,

all of their works because of this remarkable economic growth. lots of people are saying that cannot last. what happens then? when people start seeing their wages going down? >> their wages are actually going up. cheap labor does not work anymore. at the same time, capital is more expensive and all of those export market -- the have to re engineer the economy but doing that is more difficult. it is quite a risky path to take for a man like xi jinping whose career has been marked by consensus. >> we have to leave it there. thank you very much. more analysis on xi jinping and

the challenges he faces. just go to our website and you will see what is in his in-tray. back to you in london. >> thank you very much. still to come on gmt, escalating violence and more deaths of israelis and palestinians in gaza and israel. we will have all of the latest developments live. let's return to china's new leadership. reaction from around the world to xi jinping being named as the country's next president. >> the vice president is going to president is going to be somebody who engages in the discussion and that is a good

sign for a future leader of china. i feel confident that he is going to be someone that we are going to be able to deal with in the future. >> you are well versed in the history of china's foreign policy. the is not a simple bureaucratic politician. there is a degree of relaxation, candor, and to the extent humor in his exchanges. >> he is not going to be a dominant leader. he is going to have to create a consensus in the leading body. that is not going to be easy to do. there is enormous opposition to reform, both political and

economic. >> xi jinping -- i think more and more numbered generation educated in free countries, they already got some sort of experience, the value of free world. judging that way, i feel there is a possibility, a real chance to change for political reform. >> with me, tim wilcox. our headlines. xi jinping has become china's new leader. he smiled and waved after being

selected as the new leader. three hamas leaders died in airstrikes. hundreds of supporters have turned out on the streets of gaza for the funeral of a militant leader who was killed in an air strike on wednesday. 10 other people died and that attacked. in the past few hours, israeli authorities say three people were killed from a rocket fired into the gaza strip. earlier, three more palestinian militants were reported to be killed in a strike in gaza. ben? >> thank you very much.

we are standing right in front of the block of flats behind me where those three people died. you can see the gaping hole in the top floor of that block of flats. absolute devastation there. there were two families out there at that time monday heard the air raid sirens. they huddled in the stairwell because there was some concrete that offered them some protection from an attack. they did not have time to get down to the shelter them back that is where most people go when the sirens sound. there have been about 180 rocket attacks in southern israel since the air strike yesterday that killed ahmed said khalil al- jabari, the military leader of hamas. those rockets have kept on coming. we gather that the three dead

are two men and a woman. also critically injured was a baby who was in one of the flats at the tiem as well. devastation all-around. blood stains, trails of blood in all the rooms. a very gruesome sight. there are civilian casualties on both sides of this conflict. now let's get the views of an israeli journalist who can join us from jerusalem. thanks very much for being with us on bbc news. what is your perspective of what you think the israeli military will do next? will they escalated in gaza? >> it depends on what will be

the response of hamas. hamas is quite powerful. there is the growing concern of the shelling south. it is a military problem for us. it is also a political issue for egypt. nobody can predict how it will end. i do not think israel will enter gaza with tanks or soldiers. i think there will continue to be an air strike on several points in gaza it will go on for weveral days. not more. >> what your thoughts about the timing of this operation? what was in the mind of the prime minister when he authorized and approved this air

strike yesterday that killed hamas military leader ahmed said khalil al-jabari? was there more and more rocket attacks? did he have the election in january in the back of his mind as well? >> i don't think it has anything to do with the election. in the short term, he got a lot of support. on the long run, and the election -- will have to wait another week, it might change. the atmosphere might be changed. we do not know if we should continue with this trial. it is only one day. we do not know what will happen

tomorrow. tomorrow, there might be many more political problems. the election will be under the perception that we did not achieve our goals there. then we will lose the support that he got today. >> thank you very much for being with us. let's get the latest picture from inside gaza. our correspondent is there. john, what information can you bring us on the situation there today? >> you have been seeing the rocket arriving in israel this morning. we have actually seen a lot of israeli airstrikes as well within the last 15 minutes. a lot of explosions north of gaza city. that has been going on all morning. five palestinians were killed

today. they are all hamas fighters, which brings the total to 13 cents yesterday including civilians, children, and a young baby. all of its board yesterday with israel killing -- targeting one leaderssenior hamas whose funeral is taking place today. it is a potential flashpoint. there are a few senior hamas officials here but i expect many of them are in hiding in underground bunkers. it started out as a relatively quiet night but then things started to pickup. we have seen a vapor trail of palestinian rockets being fired across the border all morning. there have been casualty's.

in gaza, more casualties at. at least three militants killed today. there have been civilians killed as well in the course of the past 24 hours including children and a young baby. the fear is this could be the start of another war. >> he is a very high rank person in gaza. he is a national icon. everyone is calling for a response. i do not see a near end. >> what do you think of the israeli action? >> it is very aggressive. we have seen four people killed. it is not very mora. l. i think it is going to become

more hard in the coming days. >> do you feel like this could be another war? >> that is what everybody has been saying. it is escalating and going higher and higher. no one can say that it will end suddenly. you have seen that now. that is what everybody fears. >> who do you blame? >> [indiscernible] -- it started a week before when the palestinians targeted a little kid who was playing football. they had to respond. >> israeli civilians being

killed, too. >> it is a dirty war. the one who started it has to be blamed. this happens every time. >> john reporting for us from gaza. john, you talked about the casualties there in gaza. some of them fighters, some of them civilians. the child of one of your bbc colleagues there in gaza. >> that is right. one of my colleagues, an editor here in our office. his young 11-month-old baby boy was killed yesterday. the believes his house was hit by an israeli tank shell. civilian casualties on either side. this has been particularly

upsetting for my colleague in the gaza bureau. >> is a possible to gauge the mood on the streets after this latest violence, after these airstrikes customer how angry are people there? >> they are angry but they are also worried. i think palestinians feel this was a calculated escalation by israel taking out such a senior figure. and israel must have known it would have brought consequences and it responds from hamas. hamas does not have universal support in gaza, but when civilians are killed, it is under pressure to be seen to be protective of its population. in the past when we have had these flare-ups, egypt has

stepped in to try to mediate a cease-fire. we are not seeing that at the moment. this could be the start of another war. >> thank you very much, john, reporting live from gaza. now the chief palestinian negotiator has been speaking about this latest flare-up of fighting and what it means for the middle east peace process. let's have a listen to what he has to say. >> you have been watching gmt. bye bye for now.

>> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers use their expertise in global finance to guide you through the business strategies and opportunities of international commerce. we put our extended global network to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> bbc world news was presented by kcet los angeles. by kcet los angeles.